So I used Erin Jeanne McDowell’s recipe for vanilla macarons (variation listed on her chocolate recipe: https://www.erinjeannemcdowell.com/recipes/chocolate-macarons) and these did get feet, did rise, but have this mottled, freckled appearance.
Any clue why? Is it a recipe issue, a technique issue, a temperature issue, an ingredient issue?
Included a picture from the figure 8 test when I started piping in case it’s a macronage issue.
by Gauchely
3 Comments
More info: they don’t come out of the oven freckled. They come out smooth looking and then as they cool the spots start to appear.
It looks like chunks of almond to me. My guess is they are mixed with meringue and sugar and then reappear as the ingredients “dry out”
I got this when I overmixed the batter. It creates a thin top shell – fragile and can be broken easily when poked at. (Food dye can also contribute too)
I would avoid doing the figure 8 because based on my experience, you kinda want the batter slightly undermixed before you insert it inside the piping bag. While inserting the batter inside the piping bag, you are still “deflating” it.
You have to train your eyes to know when you can insert the batter inside a piping bag.